Wedding at Koma Inu: Tojima and Annalina
The suns rays shined down beautifully on the warm summer's morning. A cool breeze could be felt on the wind as it blew briskly through the white chairs that had be set up behind the guild. Five rows of chairs sat undisturbed before an alter that remained empty. The guests had not yet arrived. Tojima, annoyed, messed with the tie around his neck. "I dislike this attire, must I wear this?." Tojima asked, turning toward Aiden. Aiden laughs as he gets ready himself. "Come on Tojima, getting mad is not allowed today." Aiden stands up and helps Tojima with a proper tie knot. "I am not angry." Tojima said. "I am just not used to these sorts of things. I have never worn such clothes nor have I ever witnessed a wedding. Everything I have witnessed today has been so foreign. Aiden continues to chuckle to himself, "Tell me Tojima, do you have some sort of weird feeling in your stomach? Kind of like something is fluttering around inside of you?" Tojima sat down. "If you are asking if I am anxious, I can assure you that I am not. I understand full well what I am about to do. the commitment I am making, The weight of the words I will utter as I stand at the alter. I am merely out of my element in this situation. I am not nervous about the actions I am about to take, it is what comes after that worries me, friend." Tojima said. Aiden sat down in front of Tojima, "Hey, look at me. Do you love this woman?" Aiden asked in a serious tone. Tojima looked at Aiden. "My worries come not from my questioning my love for Annalina but from my own self doubt. Whether or not I can be the man she deserves. Aiden, I have done terrible, unforgivable things. Things I do not go a day without regretting, and she looks at me with such innocence in her eyes, such trust. She loves me more than I could ever love myself. It is because of that look in her eyes that I fear that perhaps she sees me as someone greater than I truly am. I fear that I will be unable to live up to her expectations. I fear that I am not the man she deserves and that one day she will see that and I will be left alone once again." Tojima said. "Tojima, when you joined this guild you became a different man from what whatever you were back then. We all love you for who you are now and we accepted what you did in the past and we don't care about the wrongs you did. The man you are today is who Annalina fell in love with. Don't doubt yourself man. If you feel that Annalina has made you a better man than you ever were, well than that means that she has helped you love yourself. Throughout this marriage she will continue to help you grow. Marriage is all about growing up. And you'll be growing up with her. You need her, and I'm sure she needs you." Aiden then thought about what he just said and was surprised that he could think of that. He continued, "Now, don't tell me that you are going to wimp out on this marriage. I don't know if I could be on a team with someone with such a lack of courage." Aiden said with in a playful tone. Tojima said nothing for awhile. "As I said before, I have no intentions of backing out of this. I only hope I can do right by her. Surely this is something many people feel before their wedding." Tojima said. Aiden put his hand on Tojima's shoulder. "It is." Aiden finished cleaning Tojima and himself up and started to leave the dressing room. "Now lets go get you married!" Meanwhile... "Annali~na~" Dakota calls, skipping over to the vanity that the guild's doctor stands in front of. "We're gonna start with your hair, and after some talking, we thought you'd look best in an updo, with a tiara. Are you okay with that?" She asks, looking at Annalina through the mirror. "That sounds lovely." She cheers, and Dakota claps her hands together in excitement. She grabs a brush from the vanity and begins combing through Annalina's smooth, slightly wavy hair. Once it's free of any knots, she begins styling it, teasing it to add extra volume. She then pulls Annalina's hair into a high ponytail, leaving a little less than a quarter of it loose at the front of her hairline. She begins french braiding Annalina's hair from the front, adding in hair from the ponytail as she gradually makes her way around the ponytail. She's careful but sure as she braids the woman's hair, making certain to avoid creating bumps or leaving loose hair. She finishes the braid and ties it off, admiring her handy work and doing a double check for any mishaps. Once she's satisfied, she begins to wrap it loosely about the base of the ponytail, creating a voluminous starburst bun. She pins it in place with a few bobby pins, and then grabs a tiara. "Nova found this, and she thinks it will go perfectly with your dress," Dakota says, smiling fondly at the headpiece. Annalina looks at it with wonder, and Dakota places it in front of the bun. It's slightly shorter than the bun itself though it easily draws attention. It is made from a shining silver that reflects the light softly, however, the small prisms embedded in it refract the light, casting small rainbows from the light. Annalina looks absolutely stunned and gives Dakota a hug around her middle. "Thank you." She hums and Dakota returns the hug in earnest. "Thank you for allowing me such an honor, Annalina," she says, "And now I turn you over to Umi." She says, backing up to give Umi space so she can do her make-up. "Dakota did an amazing job with your hair!" Umi proclaim with amazement as she admires Annalina hair. "Okay Annalina I think some natural colors will look nicely, nothing too over the top," Umi explains as she looks at the many make-up products. "That sounds amazing," she claims happily. "Yay! Then lets get started shall we?" Umi claims happily as she grabs a brush and some cover-up. Umi applies a light amount being that her skin is flawless and once she was done with that she grabs a creamy eye shadow and applies it on Annalina's eyelids with a brown eye shadow too and then grabs eyeliner and gives her small, sharp wings on her eyes making them pop out a little. Once done making her more beautiful than the already were she applies a rosy pink blush on her cheeks making tint a nice pink. "We're almost done all that's left is the lipstick and you'll be ready to see Nova with your dress," Umi explains with a big smile on her face as she grabs a light pink lipstick and lightly applies it on Annalina. "Well you're done, personally you're gorgeous with or without make-up but this will surely make Tojima look at you in awe well even more than normal, well now it's Nova's turn," Umi explains as she allows Annnalina look at herself. "Thank you," Annalina claims happily as she gets up and walks towards where Nova is waiting. The redhead unzips the dress bag and pulls out a shimmering white gown with tiny crystal fibers weaved into the fabric to create the illusion of sunlight radiating off the dress. Nova takes care to slide the dress over Annalina's hair and makeup without wrecking either. She carefully buttons, laces, and ties the various places on the outift to create a comfortable fit. "Well that's something new and something borrowed. For something old, your father graciously offered a necklace of your grandmothers," Nova says. She presents the worn velvet box to Annalina who lightly gasps as she opens it. The silver is lightly tarnished but still adds to the theme of soft light. They present her with her boquet. A single vibrant blue bloom sticks out among the other paled colors. "Something blue," the three girls giggle. Annalina looks so happy she could cry and is the literal picture of the beautiful, blushing (and glowing) bride. While all of this was happening, many of the guests began to arrive. One couple who came was Scorpius and Mirrana. "I can't wait to see Annalina in her dress" Mirrana said with wonder. Scorpius had grabbed a tissue out of suit pocket and blew his nose. "I just love weddings." he said. Tojima stood silently at the alter. He looked out at the small crowd of people, all sitting just as silent as himself. He slowly took in a deep breath before exhaling before looking up to see Annalina, accompanied by her father. Tojima felt his breath get caught in his throat as the reality of the situation hit him. He would soon be married to Annalina, the woman he loved. He began to feel his nervousness return despite Aiden's earlier words. These feelings were quickly replaced with a soft warmth in his chest as Annalina smiled brightly at him. He felt soft smile form on his face as she joined him at the alter. "You look quite stunning, elegantly beautiful." He said in a whisper. She blushed lightly "You're quite the looker yourself." She said with a slight giggle. Samarra, who had been chosen to officiate this wedding, stood in the center of the alter and looked lovingly at the two people standing before her. She cleared her throat and began her opening statements. "Good evening, and welcome to this most important moment in the lives of this couple. We invite you to leave behind the worries and concerns of every day life and join us in the celebration of their marriage.This is an opportunity for us to share not only in the joy of Annalina and Tojima’s love, but also to reaffirm and appreciate the love and the friendship we experience in our own lives. This ceremony will solidify the special bond that connects you two, as you commit now to face the world hand-in-hand." She smiles warmly at the couple and continues. "The couple has chosen to write their own vows as a sign of their love for each other. Tojima, please take Annalina's hand and recite your vows." Tojima reaches our, taking Annalina's hand into his own. The world around becomes a distant memory as Tojima stared into her deep brown eyes. He smiled before speaking. " For so many years I was alone. I hated the world so much. All I wanted was to watch it fade away...and one day it did. I closed my eyes and the world was lost. I spent so many years like that, wandering aimlessly through the darkness, telling myself that this was what I wanted." Tojima lowered his head. " I was such a fool." He said before raising his head again. " You were the first light to pierce through the dark void I had locked myself in. Thanks to you I was able to see all the friends I had made, see the world I had left behind and find beauty in it. I saw you. You saved me from myself, made me want to be a better person. You made me into a better person than I ever could have become on my own. For that I owe you my life. I give that to you now. Annalina, my love. I pledge to you my heart, body, and soul. I pledge to love you fully, with all of my heart, until the moment of my death and if possible, for eternity." Tojima said. Annalina smiles, blinking away tears " The day we first met, the day you saved me, in the forest. From the moment I saw you, so dark and mysterious, I knew I wanted to get closer to you. I felt something in my heart fall into place. To be honest, I didn't really know what it was at first but the more time I spent with you, I began to realize that I was falling for you. When we first met, the way you ignored me and pushed me away. I thought you'd hated me but I came to realize that that was just how you were. Believe it or not, that just made me want to try harder to break through the shell you surrounded yourself with. Slowly, I did. We became friends, you began visiting more and more often. Then I began to visit you in Onibus and before I knew it, you invited me into your home and we began to live together" She said with a slight giggle. "It was because of you that I was able to come here and meet all of these wonderful people, see and experience all these new things. If it wasn't for you I would probably still be stuck in that small town, twiddling my thumbs as I dreamt of seeing the world. Tojima, you don't seem to understand what that means to me. I may have made your world brighter but... Without you, I never would have seen mine. I want to always be by your side, I pledge to love you for as long as I live. No matter where we go or what we do, as long as it's with you, I know it will be where I belong." She said before wiping tears from her eyes. "I never understood why humans cry at times of great happiness." Tojima said wiping away her tears. "Neither have I." She said with a smile as she reached up to wipe the tears from Tojima's face. "What beautiful vows." Mirrana said to Scorpius in a whisper. "I hope yours will be as good as his" She said jokingly. Scorpius went white and started to sweat at the idea of marriage, but calmed down after a moment. "Shhh hun, we can talk about that later, right now is their moment." Scorpius whispered back. With a smile, Samarra continued to her final part of the speech. "At this time I would like the groom to take the ring, place it on the brides finger, and repeat after me." "I, Tojima Shisen, take you, Annalina Arriola, to be my wife, my friend, and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our friends and guildmates, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to give you my hand, my heart, and my love for as long as we both shall live." Tojima echoed Samarra's words as he placed the ring on Annalina's finger."I, Tojima Shisen, take you, Annalina Arriola, to be my wife, my friend, and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our friends and guildmates, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to give you my hand, my heart, and my love for as long as we both shall live." Annalina followed."I, Annalina Arriola, take you, Tojima Shisen, to be my husband, my friend, and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our friends and guildmates, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to give you my hand, my heart, and my love for as long as we both shall live." "Now by the power vested in me, as the master of Koma Inu, I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss the bride!" Samarra said joyfully as the ceremony was now complete. Tojima placed his had on Annalina's check as he gazed into her eyes, still somewhat puffy from the tears. He was sure that his were no different. He leaned down, closing his eyes as their lips met. They had kissed before but Tojima found that this kiss felt much different. Softer, sweeter perhaps. It also seemed to last much longer, although he knew it had only lasted a moment. They broke the kiss and stared at one another. Annalina smiled softly at him. He returned the smile and hugged her tightly.